Austek Roads and Capital Asphalt – recently acquired members of Maas Group Holdings (Maas Group) – have long been Wirtgen Group customers, benefitting from decades of technological innovation and improvement across the company’s expanding road construction machinery portfolio.
Industry challenges have been no barrier for Austek Roads, an Australian owned and operated asphalt company that’s maintained a positive trajectory from its roots in Queensland.
With its services encompassing asphalt, spray sealing, as well as road preservation and rehabilitation, Austek has slowly but surely cemented its name among the leaders of road services in the region.
One of Austek’s major milestones has been its successful acquisition by Maas Group, an ASX-listed Australian industrial service and real estate business with diversified exposure across the property, civil, infrastructure and mining sectors.
Peter Ozoux, Austek Managing Director says both companies see eye-to-eye when it comes to values and vision.
“Both Maas Group and Austek Roads are proudly Australian owned and operated,” he says. “As the CEO and Managing Director, Wes [Maas] has built and grown the company himself. That vision that he holds for the future is something that really identifies with us on a corporate level.
“For us, it really opens new doors in terms of capability. It’s only going to enable us to better deliver on our existing projects and services.”
Similar to Maas Group, Austek Roads was founded with just one bobcat and tipper truck. As such, an integral aspect to the growth of both companies has been significant investments being made in both plant and machinery.
Partner in time
Ozoux says Austek wouldn’t be in the position it’s in today if it weren’t for the assistance and support of the Wirtgen Group.
Beginning close to ten years ago, the relationship between the machinery and plant manufacturer and Austek has grown stronger every year, and with each machinery purchase.
The first unit Austek acquired from Wirtgen Group was a VÖGELE paver. Ozoux says Austek now has more than 100 Wirtgen Group units across its machinery fleet, a testament to the company’s strong trust and belief in the globally renowned manufacturer.
“From our perspective, Wirtgen Group machinery is best in class,” he says. “We’ve virtually got at least one unit from across their entire machinery offering, including Wirtgen profilers, VÖGELE pavers, Hamm rollers, Kleemann crushers and Benninghoven asphalt plants.
“The technology and support that they’re able to provide has really stood out and continues to do so, to this day.”
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Among the largest plant and equipment in Austek’s fleet is the ECO 3000 asphalt plant from BENNINGHOVEN. Able to cater for cold and hot recycling, while delivering quality asphalt production, the ECO 3000 has enabled Austek to achieve more sustainable outcomes for its clientele.
“By being able to produce and apply sustainable alternatives, we’ve been able to better align our principles and values with our customers, while delivering on what we’ve promised,” Ozoux says.
“That’s why we’re also looking into Wirtgen Group’s electric pavers and rollers, to see if we can further bolster our business from a sustainability standpoint.”
Capital Asphalt, a newly acquired business of Maas Group, also has a BENNINGHOVEN asphalt plant and other Wirtgen Group equipment, further adding to the combined capabilities of the group overall.
“Having Capital Asphalt come onboard means we’ve got a greater combined capability, especially with the two asphalt plants in different locations,” says Ozoux. “It’s really going to broaden our horizons in terms of the scope and volume of works that we’ll be able to deliver.
“Especially with us having more than 200 employees across both businesses. We’re really looking forward to working in conjunction with Capital Asphalt moving forward.”
On top of providing “best in class” machinery, Wirtgen Group has also played an impactful role in broadening Austek Roads’ horizons by enabling staff to venture overseas for training.
These informative sessions, taking place in the Wirtgen Group’s home of Germany, have helped the company and its operators to better understand how to optimise their Wirtgen Group machinery, while also opening their eyes to the technology and methods being used internationally.
“We try to do an annual refresher with our crews by having Wirtgen staff take them through our units and talk them through different applications and scenarios,” Ozoux says. “Since we’ve started that, from our supervisors, right down to our ground crews, I’ve definitely seen an improvement in terms of the mat laid and the quality of the project overall.”
Ozoux says parts and maintenance are also a “breeze”, with Wirtgen’s support facility situated only five kilometres from Austek Roads’ headquarters on the Gold Coast.
Around the corner
With an established network of sites around Queensland, strong backup service and equipment from Wirtgen, as well as its strong sense of partnership among its fellow subsidiaries within the Maas Group, Austek Roads is planning on continuing its path of “aggressive expansion.”
Ozoux says it’s this notion that really excites him moving forward.
“Maas Group is in such a great place, and with the opportunities that we’ve already had, I can see us only getting bigger and better,” he says.
“That’s why we’re attending events such as Bauma 2025 and contributing to projects such as Queensland Transport and Main Roads’ Disaster Recovery and the Brisbane Airport just to name a few. There’s certainly a bright future ahead.”
This article was originally published in the April edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.
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